Monday, September 21, 2015

Day 3



Our day began with 39 degree temperature, fog and early construction. The road was literally torn out and we had ride through sand/dirt for 3 or 4 miles. Sherry joked that she snuck out the night before and re-routed us just to slow Bob down! Joe Albers thought maybe Don was the culprit  knowing we would all need new fillings in our teeth after all that rattling. Whatever the reason for construction, we rode on in hopes that the roads would soon improve, and they did! 


Some of the roller coaster hills. 

The roads soon were filled with rolling hills (Cedar Point can't beat these roller coasters). While going up can be challenging, the down hills were tons of fun! So much so that we flew past one of our break stops. BLAKE and the SAG team had to pack up, meet us a few miles down the road and set up all over again. Thanks SAG team. 

Today we have officially peddled from "coast to coast" - Lake Michigan to Lake Huron. It was a great to come up over a hill and see Lake Huron's sparkling water reflecting up at us. We are in Rogers City tonight and have over 300 miles behind us. We saw more gorgeous scenery, more dogs (one not so lucky - one of us ran over it; his/her name is being withheld until the family has been notified). We think the dog made it through the ordeal but he rolled, yelped and ran for cover!) We are not sure if the tire tracks still remain but we do know that no cyclist was harmed during the incident. Well, maybe there were some tears shed, but he/she is okay. 
Fortunately, for that dog (there were many today) he was NOT among the other road kill witnessed today: turkeys, skunks, raccoons and porcupines. 
Poor turkey.



It seemed to be a good day for story telling on the road. Each time the SAG team waited for riders; they were heard before they were seen. And any time the riders passed by, the chatter was constant. Great to hear and great to be a part of sharing life together on the road. 
We also saw some strange things along the way today: trees filled with shoes, freaky kids waving from the woods, weird lawn ornaments, lots of graveyards and did we mention dogs? 



Our lunch stop was by special request by a certain someone who knew this place had "donuts the size of your head". 
So we stopped and indulged! 

We are happy to report that there were NO flat tires today and very little to slow us down (other than the initial "road out" construction zone. (which by the way, when asked, "How long is this construction", the road worker holding the "SLOW" sign (like there was another speed to go on a "road like that") replied, "Oh, it ain't long at all, not very far".  Ha! Easy to say when NOT riding a road bike. YIKES. 


Team Alma rocked their jerseys today.
Thank you to all who support Jim & Bob.
 


BLAKE, being a big support. 








All in all, these few photos; the smiling Sag team, no-hands Jim and the smiling rock pretty much sum up our day. 
Happy riders, happy saggers, happy wind at our backs, happy sunshine, = happy day. We can feel your prayers pushing us along the way.